In some ways this is sort of two questions in one. The main query is: what are the risks of buying a second-hand e-bike?
To give you a brief bit of background, I am a 63-year-old living in Ibiza with a terminal cancer diagnosis although the risk of my imminent demise seems to have lifted, for now. (I've gone into more detail in my introductory post.) I currently have a folding e-bike from Decathlon and I'm looking for something capable of going a little further, sometimes on unsurfaced roads. I won't be riding down any mountains, but I will be going shopping, so I need to be able to carry stuff. The maximum distance I'd be likely to go would be 60km which is less than 40 miles. (Ibiza's only a small island!)
I'm looking at buying an Orbea, partly through necessity. It's stocked by the retail and rental company on the island with probably the greatest e-bike expertise. And, although Orbea might not be a big name elsewhere, it's the largest-selling bicycle brand in Spain and has been for many years. It's supplied machines for Olympic gold medalists and had its own racing team. So there's certainly nothing wrong with its pushbike pedigree, but, as with most makes, reviews of its e-bikes are hard to find.
The Orbea Optima Comfort 10 seems to tick all the boxes for me. My plan is, initially, to rent one for a few days and see how I get on. Assuming I like it, the question is whether to buy it new or second-hand. The shop has an ex-hire model for sale, but it's the 2016 model. The newest version is 2019.The main differences I can see are that the older model uses a Bosch Active Line motor whereas the new one has a Bosch Performance CX, motor. The new one also has a 500Wh battery rather than a 400Wh. There are also variations in the components used by the two models. But, the biggest difference, for me, is the price - €1750 or €2999.
I can just about stretch to the expensive model, but is it worth it? Obviously, e-bike parts do wear out and so there's more risk with an older bike. That said, the bike might have been well-used, but it will also have been regularly serviced. As it's a hire business, they're used to collecting riders from all over the island. And, because it's a small island, they're unlikely to deliberately sell me a lemon, because word soon gets around. (As you can maybe tell, my head says to buy the second-hand one while my heart wants me to get something shiny and new.)
Any thoughts?
(BTW, the spec for the second-hand bike is here: https://www.kandani.es/blog/orbea-optima-comfort-10-e-bike-alquiler-kandani-ibiza/ and the new one here: https://www.orbea.com/es-es/ebikes/optima-comfort-10-19
To give you a brief bit of background, I am a 63-year-old living in Ibiza with a terminal cancer diagnosis although the risk of my imminent demise seems to have lifted, for now. (I've gone into more detail in my introductory post.) I currently have a folding e-bike from Decathlon and I'm looking for something capable of going a little further, sometimes on unsurfaced roads. I won't be riding down any mountains, but I will be going shopping, so I need to be able to carry stuff. The maximum distance I'd be likely to go would be 60km which is less than 40 miles. (Ibiza's only a small island!)
I'm looking at buying an Orbea, partly through necessity. It's stocked by the retail and rental company on the island with probably the greatest e-bike expertise. And, although Orbea might not be a big name elsewhere, it's the largest-selling bicycle brand in Spain and has been for many years. It's supplied machines for Olympic gold medalists and had its own racing team. So there's certainly nothing wrong with its pushbike pedigree, but, as with most makes, reviews of its e-bikes are hard to find.
The Orbea Optima Comfort 10 seems to tick all the boxes for me. My plan is, initially, to rent one for a few days and see how I get on. Assuming I like it, the question is whether to buy it new or second-hand. The shop has an ex-hire model for sale, but it's the 2016 model. The newest version is 2019.The main differences I can see are that the older model uses a Bosch Active Line motor whereas the new one has a Bosch Performance CX, motor. The new one also has a 500Wh battery rather than a 400Wh. There are also variations in the components used by the two models. But, the biggest difference, for me, is the price - €1750 or €2999.
I can just about stretch to the expensive model, but is it worth it? Obviously, e-bike parts do wear out and so there's more risk with an older bike. That said, the bike might have been well-used, but it will also have been regularly serviced. As it's a hire business, they're used to collecting riders from all over the island. And, because it's a small island, they're unlikely to deliberately sell me a lemon, because word soon gets around. (As you can maybe tell, my head says to buy the second-hand one while my heart wants me to get something shiny and new.)
Any thoughts?
(BTW, the spec for the second-hand bike is here: https://www.kandani.es/blog/orbea-optima-comfort-10-e-bike-alquiler-kandani-ibiza/ and the new one here: https://www.orbea.com/es-es/ebikes/optima-comfort-10-19
